Frank Schaefer, a pastor of the Zion United Methodist Church, said in an interview on Monday with the Patriot News that he felt he was following Christian principles, when he agreed to help his son and his partner marry, back in 2007.

“We just love him so much it was an honour to be asked. Had I said no to him, it would have negated all the affirmations we gave him for all those year…that we believe you are just as worthy and precious in God’s sight as anybody else,” he said.

The congregation has the option of disciplinary action or fully defrocking Pastor Schaefer for following the Christian tenets.

"To me this is a human rights issue,” he continued. “If being of a certain sexual orientation is who you are as a person, if that is genetic, who are we to say that these persons do not have the same rights as everybody else. I’m supposed to minister to everybody. That I feel is my call.”